PRO FOOTBALL

PRO FOOTBALL; Defensive Shakeup Looms For Giants

By MIKE FREEMAN

Published: August 29, 1994

His defense has been struggling, and that is obviously frustrating Mike Nolan. The Giants' defensive coordinator is a good teacher who prepares his team well, but his players, for whatever reason, haven't been responding.

Nolan can't tackle for them, can't make them remember calls and plays, can't make them flow to the right gap and can't help them shed a blocker. But as the coordinator, he can make changes. Though no one will say so publicly, there are indications the Giants are about to make some major ones.

With less than a week until the season opener against division rival Philadelphia and quarterback Randall Cunningham, the Giants are contemplating some drastic moves in their defense. The changes, according to people close to the situation, might involve everything from linebackers Michael Brooks and Carlton Bailey switching positions to replacing some of the key backup players like the young linebackers Andre Powell and Marcus Buckley with more experienced players cut from other teams. A Salary Question

And incredibly in the hours after the Giants lost to the Chicago Bears, 27-21, at Soldier Field, players were saying that they would not be surprised if Bailey were benched in favor of Corey Widmer, a third-year player out of Montana State who the players say is well-liked by the coaching staff. If the players are right and Bailey is benched, it is likely the Giants would first ask him to take a paycut since the team would not want to pay Bailey $1.2 million to be a backup.

The fact the team is even considering such options so close to the start of the regular season is an indication of how serious the team takes what happened to the defense during the preseason.

It also indicates the team feels changes may be worth the risk even with so such little time before the opener. 'There May Be Some Changes'

"We certainly have got to look if there is a chance to make some moves to make us better; there may be some changes," said Coach Dan Reeves, who didn't give specifics. "But certainly most of the mistakes are mental mistakes. We've got to eliminate those things and start playing cohesively."

When asked if this is the personnel he is going with on the defense, Nolan responded: "I can't answer that. That's Dan's call."

The news out of Giants Stadium was more about concerns on the defense -- not cutting the roster to 53 players as the Giants and most other teams in the National Football League did. There were no surprises for the Giants as the team trimmed its roster by cutting seven players: receivers Gary Harrell and Eric Weir, linebacker Pete Shufelt, offensive lineman Ivory Dillard, defensive linemen Milton Jones and Leonard Ray, and linebacker Shawn Smith. Players like Harrell and Jones could be back when the team forms its five-man practice squad composed of rookies and first-year players.

One player who did make it was former Princeton running back Keith Elias, who has charmed just about everyone with his speed as a running back and fearlessness on special teams.

"He doesn't make mistakes, which is important," Reeves said of the free-agent rookie.

Neither does tight end Brian Kozlowski, who will back up Aaron Pierce at the H-back spot and was also a long shot to make it. Brown and Bunch Are In

Also making the cut was tight end Derrick Brown, who may have been on the bubble, and fullback Jarrod Bunch, who is on the physically unable to perform list and is suspended from the first regular-season game because of his summer holdout. He might appeal the suspension this week.

The main topic of conversation today and probably all this week was defense. Reeves and Nolan are both upset about what they see as a lack of mental toughness from the defense, mainly the front seven players. In the Chicago game, a loss that gave the Giants a 1-4 preseason record, the Bears rushed for 135 yards, averaging 4.2 yards a carry. The week before the Jets rushed for 155 yards and had a 5.7 yard average.

The players and others within the club say the problem has mostly to do with opposing runners cutting back to the weak side of the field and linemen filling wrong holes. That is where the potential switch with Brooks, now the middle linebacker, and Bailey, the outside linebacker, comes in. When the play flows one way, Bailey is supposed to seal the weak side, a maneuver called "backside leverage."

But Bailey and some of the linemen have been unable to shed their blocks and backs have been running right past them. Lineup Switches Possible

The Giants are considering putting Bailey at the middle linebacker spot and Brooks at the weak outside spot. Brooks, who has had difficulty absorbing the new defense since the Giants went from a three-man front to four defensive linemen, would then be more free to create havoc because he wouldn't take on so many blockers. It is also a more natural position for him.

If Widmer gets in the mix, he would play the middle linebacker and Brooks the weak outside spot with Corey Miller, who has had a great preseason, playing the other outside position.

Whatever the Giants do, they realize that some action must be taken. As Nolan said of the defense: "We're skipping off the rails right now. Hopefully when we come out on the other side we'll be all right."

Photo: Giants' Keith Elias, with ball, flips over goal line Saturday against Bears. Yesterday he made the Giant roster. (Associated Press)